(Further) exploding the glaring ignorance of Bishop Farrell and other liberal gun control advocates January 28, 2016

Great video below. As I wrote in response to Bishop Farrell’s poorly formed argument against the Texas open carry law and firearms ownership, generally, there is NO GUN SHOW LOOPHOLE. Those who are in the business of buying and selling guns MUST conduct background checks whether they sell in a store, on the internet, or at a gun show. Failure to do so means committing a felony with forfeiture of assets, closure of business, and likely prison time.

I have bought guns every way possible and I have never, ever not had to fill out Form 4473 and had a background check run. When buying on the internet, the firearms must almost always ship to a Federal Firearms License holder who will run the background check. The ONLY exception is people who rarely – maybe 2 or 3 times a year – sell a firearm to a friend, acquaintance, or family member. Selling more frequently than that would constitute being in the “business” and require an FFL, background checks, and all the rest.

In addition, it is very difficult, time consuming, and expensive to buy a fully automatic weapon, in spite of what the drones on the left say. Owning an automatic requires a class 3 license AND an expensive stamp for each weapon owned. It also requires major hurdles, like getting the OK of the chief of police in your locality and going through a rigorous series of checks by the ATF. Bishop Farrell didn’t argue that particular point, but as the video shows, many other left-wingers have.

For our bishop, I suggest he stop getting his information on gun control legislation and current firearms purchasing requirements from the left-wing media and politicians.

I am exhausted with the lectures from people who have never tried to buy a gun in their life about how easy it is, about how terrorists and mentally incompetent and wife beaters all just stroll into gun stores every day and walk out with a full auto Uzi without so much as signing a receipt. They can only say that because they are completely, utterly ignorant of the process. That’s not how it works. If ever a known terrorist does get a gun in a gun store, it’s because the ATF/FBI completely failed when running the background check. And how often does that happen? I really don’t know, but if the ATF isn’t doing it’s job with the current laws on the books, why would more laws make it do its job better?

In point of fact, there are already hundreds of firearms laws and regulations on the books, and they are almost never enforced against criminals. They are enforced most often on otherwise law-abiding citizens. Those who use illegal guns in the commission of a felony are rarely charged with such. I believe that fact alone strongly indicates that the left-liberal push for even more draconian legislation is not about purported concern for crime victims, but an attempt to deliberately disarm a nominally free people.

WELLLLLLL……..several things. In a state like Texas, the charge would likely be federal, and the feds often refuse to join in a state case against a given crime even when invited to do so.

Secondly, being guilty of multiple felonies often triggers severe sentences. So by refusing to enforce these felony provisions, offenders often get out of jail much sooner.

Third, my argument still stands, there are numerous laws on the books, and they are not rigorously enforced against criminals. They are rigorously enforced against the law-abiding. That reveals the true intent.

It’s obvious when someone not well versed in NFA talks about NFA weapons. Honestly, that includes most gun owners, except for owners of Title 2 (NFA restricted) firearms. There is no such thing, Federally, as a “Class 3 License.” Purchasers of NFA-restricted weapons (Title 2 firearms) only hold a registration (ATF Form 1 or 4) showing they paid the $200 tax (by way of a stamp) to make (Form 1) or transfer (Form 4) and were approved to transfer by the ATF. “Class 3” refers to a type of Special Occupation Tax (SOT) paid by a dealer holding a Federal Firearms License, who by paying the SOT, can deal in Title 2 firearms. Normal firearms are Title 1 firearms. The $200 tax on most Title 2 firearms has been the same since the National Firearms Act of 1934.

Thought it was $200 per gun per year. That adds up. Just one time, I guess not so much (though $200 half or more the price of many good firearms) Sorry for misrepresenting things, I did conflate license and stamp.

Class 3 isn’t a license. It’s a classification that identifies dealers who pay the Special Occupation Tax to sell Title 2 (NFA restricted) firearms. Buyer just has the ATF FORM 1 (for making an NFA firearm) or 4 (transfer) with the $200 stamp. No license (not a federal one, anyway). The stamp is the same price as it was in 1934 when the original National Firearms Act was enacted.

So funny that you should post this today. I just got back from going with my husband to purchase a Sig Sauer 9mm (I forget the exact model he ended up getting). How funny that people think there aren’t already enough controls in place. Had to show ID twice, it was run through their system, social security number, place of birth, all paperwork double checked at two different points by a second employee, the serial number on the weapon was verified multiple times… We were joking around about that scene from “My Name is Earl” where his ex-wife tries to buy a gun to kill him that day, but ends up with a crossbow because of the three day waiting period. (Salesperson said they actually had a woman come in like that once. Just wanted to buy a gun, now, and didn’t care what kind. Something seemed not right. They refused to sell to her.)
Like you, I am exhausted by the lectures. I have great sympathy for all my friends who left one 30.06-signed parish for another parish only to be told that it is now a diocese policy. I hope that our parish continues to fly under the radar.